For moving granular material such as for instance wheat, oats, rye, barley, shelled or ground corn in bulk, conveyors are generally used. Storage means for such material could for example be a silo or a storage bin. When the storage means are emptied, gravity is first allowed to feed the granular material into an outlet opening at or adjacent the centre of the storage means. A substantial residue forming an inverted cone outward from the opening is left after gravity feeds the majority of the granules into the outlet opening. Grain sweep means are used to convey this residue towards the outlet opening in order to empty the storage means completely. Such grain sweeps are generally radially disposed and movable about the outlet opening to sweep the granules towards the outlet opening. The grain sweeps conventionally comprises an elongated frame along which a grain moving means such as an auger or a paddle conveyor is arranged. The grain moving means will drag or sweep grain towards the opening in the floor, while being rotated around the silo floor.
When the storage means is full of granular material the granular material exert a great load/pressure upon the grain sweep. This load is successively eased as the storage means is emptied from grain through the opening in the silo floor, leaving only the inverted cone of granules substances. The high pressure from a full silo may cause the elongated frame and the grain moving means to bulge and deform which may subsequently affect their operational efficiency. If the elongated frame and grain moving means are deformed to such an extent that they come into contact with the silo floor they will scrape the floor, work inefficiently and be damaged. In addition, the intended path of the grain moving means may be affected by the deformation.
One way to avoid the mentioned deformation of the elongated frame due to the weight of the grain is to provide the elongated frame with a rigid metal elongated hood covering the elongated frame and grain moving means. Such hoods are however often bulky, heavy and expensive to manufacture.
There is thus a need to provide an improved solution to the problems mentioned above.